The white bear suppression inventory: revisiting its factor structure

The white bear suppression inventory [Wegner, D. M., & Zanakos, S. (1994). Chronic thought suppression. Journal of Personality, 62, 615–640] was designed as a self-report measure of people’s chronic tendency to suppress thoughts. In the present study, maximum likelihood factor analyses (n=456 and 459) revealed three correlated factors: unwanted intrusive thoughts, thought suppression, and self-distraction (to avoid thoughts). Gender differences were found for the second and third factors, with women more likely to endorse these cognitive avoidance strategies. The implications of these three factors for interpretation of the full scale are considered.